CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Drake men's basketball team concluded its trip to Charleston by taking home a trophy. The Bulldogs claimed the title at the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic from TD Arena on Sunday night after defeating Vanderbilt, 81-70.
 
This marked the fourth tournament championship for Drake since 2018. The Bulldogs captured the 2018 Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic, the 2020 Little Apple Classic in Manhattan, Kan., and the 2022 Paradise Jam championship in the Virgin Islands.
 
For the second time in four days, Drake defeated a power-four conference team as the Bulldogs claimed a victory over ACC member Miami, 80-69, to open the Tournament on Thursday.
 
This also marked Drake's second-straight victory against an SEC school after beating Mississippi State, 58-52, Dec. 20, 2022, in Lincoln, Neb.
 
Drake held a 34-31 lead at the half that saw the two sides trade blows as both teams shot the ball well from the field with the Bulldogs hitting 50-percent (14-28) of their shots and the Commodores hitting 48-percent (12-25).
 
Vanderbilt claimed its largest lead of the game at 18-12 following a three-pointer from Tyler Tanner with 10:09 on the clock. Drake immediately had an answer with a 6-0 run to bring the contest even at 18-18 with a pair of free throws from Bennett Stirtz and back-to-back buckets in the paint by Cam Manyawu. The Commodores pushed their lead back to five at 27-22 just before the under-4 media timeout, but once again Drake countered and took the lead with 1:39 left with a three-ball by Mitch Mascari. Manyawu closed the half out by making a pair from the charity stripe to give him 16 points at the break.
 
The Bulldogs never trailed in the second half and eventually extended their lead to double digits when Nate Ferguson converted on a fast break layup to make the score 55-45 at the 12:20 mark.
 
From there, the Bulldogs defense locked down the Commodores. Drake held Vanderbilt without a field goal for over five minutes from 8:52 to 3:14, while building its lead to 67-55.
 
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs broke the Vanderbilt full-court press leading to wide open layups and dunks and converted from the line when fouled leading to Ben McCollum's first tournament championship as head coach at Drake.
 
"This was good for the kids as they have obviously put a lot of work in," McCollum said. "They've put a lot of work in over the years, put a lot of work in over the summer as well as the preseason. It's good to win one of these. It's good to play in one of these. If you're fortunate enough to do it in March, you have some experience playing in a tournament. It was a fun event and really appreciate ESPN and really appreciate everyone doing it for us."
 
Four Bulldogs ended the game in double figures with Manyawu leading the way with 18 points. The sophomore also pulled down 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, for a double-double performance. Bennett Stirtz also tallied a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists. Mascari added 17 points and Daniel Abreu totaled 15 on the night as well.
 
Drake will return to Des Moines for its next game as it hosts Georgia Southern from the Knapp Center on Nov. 30.
 
Team Notes
•This marked the ninth time in school history, including the third time in the last five years, Drake has won its first six games to start the season: 2022-23 (6-0 start) and 2020-21 (18-0 start).
•Ben McCollum earned his 400th career collegiate victory, improving his collegiate career coaching record to 400-91 in 16 years.
•Drake entered the Charleston Classic, having never played a college basketball game in the state of South Carolina in school history, yet came away with three straight victories by double figures, while holding each opponent to a season low in scoring.
•Drake posted season highs in field goal percentage shooting (.537), free throw percentage (.900), rebounds (37) and blocked shots (five).
•Drake held Vanderbilt to a season-low 70 points.
•The Bulldogs out-rebounded Vanderbilt, 37-20.
•Drake grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, marking the fifth straight game the Bulldogs had collected 10--plus offensive rebounds in a game this season.
•There were nine lead changes and two ties in the game.
•Drake closed out the first half, making its last four shots and ended the second half by making its last six shots.
 
Individual Notes
•Drake junior guard Bennett Stirtz was named to the All-Tournament Team and was the Tournament MVP of the Charleston Classic.
•Stirtz enjoyed his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, while collecting two steals.
•Cam Manyawu enjoyed his second double-double of the season (12th in career) with game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. He had 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
•Manyawu added a career-high three blocked shots.
•Graduate guard Mitch Mascari added 17 points, making three of five three-point shots. He is now shooting 51.1 percent (22-43) beyond the three-point arc this season. Twenty two of his 24 baskets this season have been three-pointers.
•It marked the fourth time Mascari has made three three-point baskets in a game this season and 28th time in his career.
•Graduate forward Daniel Abreu scored 15 points, including 13 points in the second half.
•Stirtz and Mascari played 39 minutes 58 seconds after playing the entire 40 minutes in the previous two tournament games. Stirtz entered today's game ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in playing minutes averaging 37.24 per game.
 
The Series
•Drake leads the series, 2-1. It was the first meeting between the schools since playing in the 2008 Cancun Challenge. Drake earned a 47-46 victory in the inaugural meeting between the schools Dec. 29, 1948, in the Drake Fieldhouse.